


Free Spirits

by BuzzCat



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Stan and Ford were best friends as kids and we don't talk about that enough, Teamwork makes the dream work, The Original Mystery Twins, late post for Forduary which yes I am posting in May let me be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 15:57:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18742291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuzzCat/pseuds/BuzzCat
Summary: AKA "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work".On a rainy day at Glass Shard Beach, two free spirits refuse to be kept from monster hunting by something so mundane as the weather. A short piece about Stan and Ford and how they used to work together.





	Free Spirits

Something slow and swanky coming from the radio filtered in from the living room as ten-year-old Stanley lay on his stomach on his bed, reading comics with his feet lazily kicking in the air. Ford sat at his desk, writing in his nerd notebook. Ma Pines was in the living room, telling some sap their fortune and Stan could hear the soft scratching of her filing her nails. Heavy rain pelted the windows. All around, it was a quiet afternoon in the Pines family home.

Stan sighed as he finished the comic and he flopped forward, faceplanting into the comforter.

“Fooooooord,” he said, voice muffled by the comforter.

“What,” Ford asked distractedly.

“I’m boooooored,” Stan said. Ford looked up, frowning.

“You just finished reading that comic, how are you bored already?”

“I dunno, but I am,” Stan said. He grunted as he flipped over to stare at the bottom of Ford’s bunk. “Has it stopped raining yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Maybe Ma’ll let us go outside anyway?”

“I think it’s unlikely,” Ford said, adding some lines to the drawing of the Jersey Devil in his notebook. Stan sat up.

“Wanna go monster hunting?”

Ford’s eyes lit up, “Yeah!” Then the light dimmed, “Do you think Ma will let us, even with the rain?”

“We could always sneak out?” Stan offered. He thought about it a second longer and a wide grin spread across his face, “Let’s sneak out!”

Ford smiled to match him, “Yeah!”

Stan hopped off his bed and started gathering his monster gear: a net, a backpack of snacks, and some extra bandaids. Ford grabbed his notebook, then hesitated. He turned to Stan and held the notebook out to him,

“Can you put this in your backpack? My pockets can’t keep it dry.”

“Yeah sure, just toss it in,” Stan said as he held the open backpack out to Ford, who gently tucked the notebook and a pen into the bag. Ford grabbed his flashlight off the desk and tucked his super-duper decoder ring into his pocket, just in case. Never know when you’ll find coded messages left by ancient civilizations. The boys each grabbed their shoes and Stan started tying his on before Ford stopped him,

“Wait, let’s wait until after we’re out. Otherwise Ma’ll hear our feet.”

“Good idea,” Stan said, picking up his tennis shoes. He eyed the coats hanging on the back of the door, “Can we grab our raincoats? Or are they too loud?” Ford pondered the question, poking the fabric experimentally. It made a soft rustling sound.

“I think if we just bundle them up really tight so they don’t make noise and put them on outside, it should be okay.”

“Okay,” Stan said. They each grabbed their coat and wrapped it up until it could be squashed tightly against their chests, the fabric too contained to rustle.

Carefully, Ford eased open their bedroom door. Step by careful step, they snuck down the hall. Ford peeked around the corner. Ma was on the windowseat, still filing her nails.

“…yeah, that guy ain’t shit, Darla…an accident is tripping on a sidewalk, not falling face-first into her—”

“Coast is clear,” Ford whispered to Stan. He waited until Ma was looking out the window, then dashed across to the door on padded sock-clad feet. He froze, waiting to see if she turned, and motioned Stan over to join him. They held still, waiting. Ford had his hand on the door handle, tensed to run. It was just a matter of time.

Ma coughed and quick as a flash, Ford took advantage of the noise and unlocked the door and cracked it open, slipping out through the crack. Stan followed him and they closed it just as Ma dropped the phone back into the cradle. Giggling, they boys put on their shoes and coats before stepping out into the rain.

 

Ma Pines watched the reflection in the window as her boys snuck out. As she lit another cigarette, she watched them run across the street and toward the beach. The rain was still pelting down and both boys would have the sniffles in less than a day, but it wasn’t enough to make her try calling them back. She knew her boys well enough to know, there was no point in trying to cage free spirits.


End file.
